Largest lakes & reservoirs in US West Region by water volume
The estimated volume of water that a lake contains is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. By this measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Siberia’s Lake Baikal.Water Volume can be measured in acre-feet, in cubic miles, or in cubic kilometers. One acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre (43,560 square feet) to a depth of one foot. One cubic mile equals 3,379,200 acre-feet. One cubic kilometer equals 810,713 acre-feet. 1 acre-foot is equal to 325,851 US gallons. Siberia’s Lake Baikal contains about 6,276,367,740,000,000 gallons of freshwater – nearly 1 million gallons for every living person on earth.
The other – and more widely used – measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s surface acreage. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is North America’s Lake Superior.
Note: In the United States, an acre foot is a unit of volume used to refer to large-scale bodies of water. It is defined by the volume of water needed to cover 1 acre of surface area to a depth of 1 foot.
You can find many of the the world’s largest lakes (by water volume) on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, the water volume data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 329 articles we have published for US West Region lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US West Region > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in US West Region, only the 329 US West Region lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Water vol. in ac-ft | Lake description |
---|---|---|
Lake Mohave, AZ/NV (Arizona, Las Vegas Territory, NV, Nevada, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, West Coast Region, AZ) |
1,818,330 ac-ft | Lake Mohave is a man-made reservoir on the Colorado River that spans 28,260 acres. It is a part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and was cre … |
Riffe Lake (Seattle & Puget Sound Region, WA, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
1,686,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Riffe Reservoir, Mossyrock Lake, Davisson Lake) Riffe Lake by any other name would still be a fantastic recreational spot. The name confusion for this man-made reservoir in the Seattle and Puget Sou … |
American Falls Reservoir, ID (Idaho, Southeastern Idaho, US West Region, USA) |
1,671,300 ac-ft | With more than 56,000 acres of water sport, boating and fishing waters, surrounded by choice camping and picnic areas, American Falls Reservoir in sou … |
Lake Berryessa, CA (California, Central Valley Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,602,000 ac-ft | Lake Berryessa, nestled into the heart of California’s wine country, is the largest lake in Napa County. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built the Mont … |
Hells Canyon Reservoirs (Eastern Oregon, Idaho, Oregon, Southwestern Idaho, US West Region, USA) |
1,420,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Brownlee Reservoir, Oxbow Reservoir, Hells Canyon Reservoir) The three Hells Canyon Reservoirs are one of southwest Idaho’s most scenic locations. Idaho can’t claim this national treasure alone, however as it sh … |
Fremont Lake (Southwest Wyoming, US West Region, USA, Wyoming) |
1,370,105 ac-ft | (Also known as The Deep, Stewart Lake (historical)) One of the best-kept secret lake destinations in Northwestern Wyoming is spectacular Fremont Lake. Formed by nature when glaciers gouged out a deep tr … |
Lake Wallula, OR/WA (Eastern Oregon, Oregon, South Central Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
1,350,000 ac-ft | Lake Wallula, a 64 mile long reservoir, is a wide open glassy lake that extends from northeastern Oregon to southeastern Washington. Lake Wallula rece … |
Banks Lake, WA (North Central Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
1,275,000 ac-ft | Banks Lake is a 27 mile equalizing reservoir and part of the Columbia Basin Project, a major water resource project to provide irrigation water to fer … |
Flathead Lake, MT (Glacier Country, MT, Montana, US West Region, USA) |
1,200,000 ac-ft | Carved out by the historic glaciers of the last ice age approximately 11,000 years ago, Flathead Lake is one of the largest natural freshwater lakes i … |
Palisades Reservoir, ID/WY (Eastern Idaho, Idaho, Southwest Wyoming, US West Region, USA, Wyoming) |
1,200,000 ac-ft | Palisades Reservoir is set in southeast Idaho, east of Idaho Falls in a beautiful river valley. The southern end of the reservoir extends into Wyoming … |
Clear Lake, CA (California, North Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,155,000 ac-ft | Clear Lake’s spectacular 43,785 acres earn it the superlative of largest natural freshwater lake located entirely within the state of California. This … |
Lake Almanor, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,142,960 ac-ft | One of the largest artificial lakes in the state, Lake Almanor lays claim to approximately 28,000 acres of northeastern California. The lake was creat … |